Wadesboro-based Pee Dee Electric has sent line crews to Kentucky to assist the electric cooperatives in that state with power restoration efforts. A major winter storm moved across Kentucky and neighboring states earlier this week, resulting in ice accumulation significant enough to cause widespread power outages.

Rockingham Operations Superintendent, Jake McGee leads a crew of nine lineman to Owen Electric Cooperative in Dry Ridge, Ky. north of Lexington in central Kentucky.

Wadesboro Crew Foreman, Chip Honeycutt is leading a crew that includes Frank Webb, Dustin Marsh and Chris Baxley.

Men from Rockingham are Sandy Baldwin, Kenny Simmons, Ernest Patterson, and Chris Jacob.

The deployment of this crew is part of a mutual aid agreement shared between the nation’s nearly 1,000 electric cooperatives to help one another in times of emergency, such as natural disasters. Electric cooperatives across the country use the same line system engineering standards, which means line crews from any part of the country can quickly help sister cooperatives in restoration efforts.

“Electricity is critical to the way we live, and it’s important that people affected by this storm have power restored as quickly as possible,” said Bruce Simmons, director of marketing and communication at Pee Dee Electric’s corporate office in Wadesboro. “We are happy to help our fellow cooperatives and know that they would do the same for us because it’s the cooperative way” he added.

Pee Dee Electric has sent crews through the years to help with hurricanes Hugo, Fran, Floyd, Katrina and other extended outages across the state and Southeast.